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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · chest · clip · field · mug · vault · bass · cabinet

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — the fish
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. chest — of your body
  7. field — for sport
  8. vault — a safe
  9. field — farmland
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. mug — a cup
  12. chest — a box
  13. pound — a weight
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mug — to rob
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. mug — a face
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. clip — a video
  23. bass — low music
  24. vault — in gymnastics

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com